Many will tell me they are healthy, trying to get healthy, committed to health, but then their lifestyle does not mirror that statement. Perhaps in many ways, but not in all ways.

Not in exercise. That one tends to escape more people than anything else it seems. Granted, the diet is most commonly not tightened down, but you can strive towards a better diet without interrupting too much of life, whereas exercise takes a pretty good turnaround if you aren’t doing any.

Time.

The number one reason why people don’t or quit exercise, is time. I have always tried to kill this for people with a whole new look at exercise. Intensity vs. duration.

The last twenty years have taught us a lot about exercise and how it impacts our cardiovascular system, our muscular development, and our hormones. The one I tend to care the most about is the latter. The hormonal changes that come from specific exercise, are fantastic.

Which specific exercise? High intense short duration exercise.

Increases in testosterone and growth hormone. Increases in insulin sensitivity and leptin sensitivity. Long term decreases in cortisol; all of these happen from the high intense stuff.

So what do you do? You hit it for 4-8 minutes as hard as you can. I really like hiking when I do it, I actually prefer trail running… again, when I do it. It used to be often, now it is rare. So how do you prepare for a hard hike up and down a mountainside?

Squats. Even though the hike is a longer duration activity, the intensity increases dramatically from up hill to down hill, making the uphill an intense burst of activity. A few minutes of hard going. And that is how you should hit it.

Then when you decide to take a hike up to Amicalola Falls, or Cloudland Canyon, you will be prepared to hit the hike without issue. Perhaps you could hit two or three hikes, or maybe the Hike Inn at Amicalola Falls (5 miles in to an Inn in the middle of the woods with no way to get there besides the hike).

Life has so much to offer, exercise will open the door. Start today, God has ordained that your body be worked. Go work it!